Am I the Devil?
by Ragnarok2
Summary: Seifer hatches a new plan to reclaim Rinoa from Squall, set after the end of FFVIII.
1. Return of the Sorceress's Knight

Am I the Devil?

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Disclaimer: I do now own Final Fantasy characters, they all belong to Squaresoft (sadly).

People know me as the reject, the problem child, and the disaster. I've been called the worst names you'll ever hear, and I've undergone such severe dislike that I guess I'm lucky to have the friends I have. Raijin and Fujin have always stuck by me, even when I used to be in league with Matron, back when Ultimecia possessed her. They never gave up on me and they were willing to fight for me, even if it was a losing battle. I guess even monsters have their sidekicks.

Believe it or not, there was a time when I was happy. That was when I knew her, Rinoa. I was 17, she was 16, and we had an awesome time that summer. But then, she disappeared. She went back to more intense work with the Forest Owls, I guess. Anyway, I didn't see her until more than a year later in Timber. No, it wasn't Timber was it? It was afterwards, in Deling City, when Squall tried to kill Matron. He had beaten me as hard as it is to admit, and he, Rinoa, and that moronic traitor cowboy went up against Matron. They lost, and I awoke in time to see Matron kill Squall.

Actually, I wish she had killed him. It would've made my life easier. That was when I first saw Rinoa, after such a long time. But at that time, it was too late for me. I was already on the path to "evil", as some people say it. I tortured Squall, but he escaped the D-District Prison, him and everyone else, including Rinoa. When he took her away, I knew that I had to get her back.

After the missile attacks, I followed Matron as she went to Galbadia Garden and took over. Then we encountered Balamb Garden, transformed just as Galbadia Garden had been. Part of me was angry that Squall had lived, but another part was glad that Rinoa was alive and that I'd have the chance to be with her again. I ordered the Galbadian soldiers to attack Garden to wipe out the SeeDs, and only the SeeDs. I wanted to see her again, so I wanted, no needed, her alive.

I never expected her to join Squall and try to kill me. But she did, later in Galbadia Garden, and they defeated Matron too. In fact, they beat me twice! I was humiliated! But I knew that I had one last chance with her. If I could just lure her to me, since Ultimecia had told me to find Lunatic Pandora and Squall and his company of fools were bound to try to stop me, I knew that she could be mine! But never did I dream that Ultimecia would control me and force me to give Rinoa to Adel. I knew then that there was no chance.

That was before I saw Balamb Garden flying overhead that day, which was when I knew that she was alive, that she and Squall had survived their encounter with Ultimecia. I had another chance, a chance to take her back.

Am I evil for wanting love, compassion, and trust? Am I evil for doing anything it takes for the woman I love? Am I evil for doing what is best for those I care about? I think not.


	2. The First Strike

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Am I the Devil?

Chapter 2

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Disclaimer: I _still_ do not own any characters from Final Fantasy VIII. They _still_ belong to Squaresoft.

It was time for me to take form Squall what he had taken form me, happiness, love, friendship, and above all, his dreams. His dreams would have to be shattered just as mine had been. His life would become like mine, meaningless, lonely, and painful. They would all have to die. One by one, I'd kill them all. Except her, not Rinoa, I needed Rinoa for my life to be full of purpose again. She gave me the strength to go on and to succeed. She was nothing when she was with Squall; she was wasting her time with that fool, wasting her life away. It was time for me to make a comeback, time for the Sorceress's Knight to show his worth.

The perfect opportunity came for me to begin when I was in the bar in Balamb. I was chatting with old friends when I noticed a very loud voice outside. A familiarity reached me; I knew that obnoxious voice and the way it that it had no control over the emotions it brought forth. It could only be chicken-wuss. Of all the people I was about to kill, chicken-wuss was at the top of my list, so naturally I'd have to kill him tonight. And it had to be my lucky day, because it sounded, from the way his voice shook and slurred, that he was heavily drunk. I told the guys I'd see them later next week, and went out to greet my old friend Zell.

I walked outside into the midnight darkness and searched for the fool. He wasn't far up the road, stumbling and staggering along like a zombie, occasionally lashing out at people as they walked by him. I walked slowly behind him and watched where he went very carefully; I had to make sure he wasn't going back to any of his friends. If he did, I'd have to wait for another chance. To my luck, he staggered right towards the town entrance, probably heading up to where Balamb Garden used to be. In his drunkenness, he probably forgot that it wasn't there anymore. I wondered for a second then where Balamb Garden was if it wasn't here with Zell. He must have been sent in to investigate something, or maybe he was just visiting his parents. Whatever, it didn't matter. They wouldn't see him again anyway.

I finally took my chance and walked past him, then I faked a double take and walked back to him.

"Zell? Is that really you?" I asked, trying to sound as if I was greeting an old friend; my gunblade bumped against my ribs.

"Sheifer? Ish that you?" He slurred. Man, he was hammered all right.

"It is man! How long has it been? Who cares, it's been way too long!" I embraced him and gave a "friendly" laugh.

"Yeah, definitely toooooo long Sheifer. How've you beeen?" Zell said, clearly forgetting that I had tried to kill them all previously.

"I'm great Zell! In fact I just got a wonderful opportunity for a job and I think you could help me with it." I said to him, seeing if he'd take the bait.

"Shure, what can I do for an old friend?" Zell asked, falling for it.

"You can start by not crying for help." I said, and grabbed him by the neck, dragging him into an alley.

"Zell my old…'friend', you really shouldn't have gone out drinking tonight." I said, as I pulled out my gunblade. As I was about to kill him though, I heard a crackling noise. I stared at Zell's front shirt pocket for a moment, then reached in and pulled out a radio. I heard Squall's voice coming through.

"Zell? Are you there? Zell?" Squall asked.

"Hello Squall, how's it been? Enjoying your job as commander so far?" I said into the radio. Dead silence ensued for about ten seconds before a he replied.

"What do you want Seifer? Where's Zell?" Squall asked, sounding panicky. That wasn't like Squall at all, I must have gotten him worried. How he cares for his friends!

"Ah Squall, I'm afraid Zell won't have much time to report to you. He's gonna be taking a little nap pretty soon and he won't want to be disturbed. In fact it'd be pretty hard to disturb him. I pulled up my gunblade and brought it against Zell's neck. He tried to resist but he was way too drunk.

"SEIFER! Don't you dare! SEIFER!!" Squall yelled.

"Now that I've got your attention Squall, how would you like to hear your friend's last words?" I asked and gave the radio to Zell.

"Shquall I…" Zell began, but I didn't really feel like letting him finish. I drove the gunblade straight through his neck and he suddenly lost his voice.

"Sorry Squall, it seems Zell has come down with Laryngitis or something, and he won't be able to talk right now. Can I take a message?" I told him, and dropped the radio on the ground. I left Zell's body to be discovered later and walked out of Balamb, eager to find more of Squall's precious friends. I had a job to do. I could still hear the desperate cries of Squall echoing from the radio as I exited the city

***

Of course, I had no idea where any of Squall's friends were. I'd have to search for them, but hey, wasn't that the best part? The thrill of the chase as they say. After chicken-wuss, I decided to go after messenger girl, and from what I was able to deduce, that cowboy Irvine would be hanging out with her too. Killing two birds with one stone, piece of cake. That would leave me with Instructor Trepe, that overly emotional, mediocre instructor. She'd be a tough one, but I'd still get her, just like I'd get all the rest. But that messenger girl really pissed me off with all her perkiness and her positive attitude, she was _too_ happy.

Well she wouldn't be when I was through with her.


	3. Double Attack

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Am I the Devil?

Chapter 3

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Disclaimer: You know the drill, Final Fantasy 8 characters are not mine blah, blah, blah. Have a nice day.

After my warm-up killing of chicken-wuss, I decided that my next targets would be Messenger-girl and her cowboy boyfriend. The two were close, so taking hold of one would most likely lead the other to me. After a little consideration on my part, and a few drinks, I decided that it would be best if I kidnapped, or otherwise brought under my control, messenger-girl first and let Irvine come to me. He seemed to be more attached to her than she to him, and would be more willing to do what I say than she would. Besides, she really pissed me off.

The only problem was, where the hell were they? My first thought would be Trabia Garden, that second-rate institution for the lower-rank SeeD's. But then I thought that Squall would obviously know that I'd think that so he'd send them to a location that was much less obvious and harder to determine. So I thought to myself "Where would he send two of his dearest friends so that I'd never think to look for them there?" The answer came to me almost immediately. Edea's house; the orphanage. My next thought was transportation, but that wouldn't be a problem. I'd just borrow a ship from the garage and fly there myself. It wasn't all that far from Balamb and I knew the way, having flown there in Galbadia Garden already just a year ago. It would certainly be heartwarming to return home for a family reunion.

***

I landed a few miles away so I wouldn't draw attention to myself and decided it would be best to walk there; I didn't need them knowing that I was coming to kill them. There were no monsters though, which was odd. The areas outside of civilization were usually full of them, but Centra was unusually devoid of any such creatures entirely. Whatever, not like I cared much. Besides, I needed to concentrate on what I needed to do. I was so preoccupied in my thoughts that I didn't even hear the damn beast until it was on top of me.

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God damn it…

It was a Grand Mantis, a huge monstrous bug with javelin-like incisors on the front of its tank-like body. Its legs were easily as big as I was, and the spine growing out of its back had to be at least ten feet long. It had to be the biggest grand mantis out there, and why the hell did it have to pick now to have a snack?

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Shit…

It rushed me again; intent on impaling me on its claws, but I was a little quicker. Lucky for me, I wasn't on the menu today. I jumped to the side and jumped into the air, landing on top of the mantis. It stopped and then violently tried to shake me off while reaching back with its forearms, still trying to skewer me. But I was too good to be killed by a monster, especially not now when I was at the peak of my skill. I raised my gunblade and ran it through the thing's head. It roared and dropped to the ground. I still sat on its back, triumphant over my kill.

"Bite me."

I started to stand when something hit my left side and sent me to the ground, slightly dazed from hitting my head on the hard rock. I looked around, looking for the second monster. Then I saw him…

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Oh how perfect…

It was Irvine. Apparently he'd heard the cries of the mantis and had come running out to see what was going on. He had his Exeter with him, and it was pointed square at my chest. I stared at him and grinned; he gripped his gun more tightly.

"Irvine, how long has it been? I see your taste in guns has improved," I said, gesturing at the Exeter. "Too bad I can't say the same for your taste in women. Still hanging out with that perky, peace-loving messenger huh? And I thought you could do so much better. You can have any woman you want, so why did you pick her? I mean come on; she's not even that pretty. That damn haircut of hers is ridiculous and yellow definitely is _not_ her color."

I could tell that I was pissing him off, he cocked his shotgun and took a step toward me.

"Shut up you bastard, you SHUT UP ABOUT SELPHIE!" He screamed. Defensive, excellent.

"So you are still attached to her aren't you? Too bad, like I said before, you could have done better." I raised my hand and snapped my fingers, suddenly not wanting to go through with the capture plan. Irvine flinched, probably expecting a Firaga spell or something. No, I had better plans than that; more interesting tactics.

"So tell me, have you two…yet?" That got him, and he opened fire with two rounds. They came at me…and rebounded at him; the idiot didn't even know a Reflect spell when he saw one. The rounds hit him in the right arm and the stomach, and he doubled over in pain and collapsed to the ground. I stalked over to him, picked him up by his hair, and said directly into his ear:

"How does it feel to be helpless, to have your dreams of a happy life with the girl you love taken away from you in an instant of defeat? How does it feel to have your heart pierced by despair and hopelessness, and to have it frozen by grief?" I asked him, taking his hat. It would make a nice gift for messenger-girl when I saw her.

***

I continued up the beach toward Edea's house, leaving Irvine to die on the sand. He wouldn't survive those wounds, so he was as good as dead. My focus was now turned toward his beloved Selphie, who was probably waiting for her man to come back. I put the hat on my head and walked up the stairs to the rear of the orphanage. I could just see over the edge of the wall to where Selphie was sitting on a stone, a fragment of the wall in its former glory. She saw the hat and started to run toward me.

"Irvine! Did you find out what made the thing roar? Did you…" She stopped dead in mid-sentence and gasped as she saw me coming up the stairs at her. I took of the hat and mock-bowed to her.

"Mornin' little lady. I reckon I've got a message for ya. Irvine said to tell you that he was dying ta come back for ya, and that he's now a little down in the dumps." I said, faking Irvine's accent. She stood for a moment with a look of shock on her face, which soon turned to hatred. She shot daggers at me and turned and ran for her strange vision, but I was quicker. I ran up to her and grabbed her, spinning her around to face me. I grasped both her shoulders so that her arms were pinned to her sides. She wasn't going anywhere. I shoved her into the dirt and grabbed my gunblade from under my coat.

"You know what Zell did right before I killed him? Actually, nothing. He was too damn drunk for his own good to even know what was coming. But you know it may not have been the alcohol, probably just his intelligence level to begin with.

"Shut your mouth you son-of-a-bitch!" It was the first time I'd heard her curse; it was the kind of thing that filled you with pride. "Zell was a good man, and you killed him in cold blood. Just like Irvine, you BASTARD!" She tried to reach up and slap me, but I grabbed her wrist and lifted her off the ground, throwing her into a wall. I then walked over to her and pointed the gunblade at her throat.

"Scream for me." I said.

A gun cocked behind me and I spun around. Irvine stood there with his Exeter pointed at my face.

"Touch her and you die. I will blow your head off and feed it to the monsters. You just try and touch her." He snarled, but I noticed that he winced with pain. The wounds were clearly taking their toll on the cowboy; he was still dying even as he tried to defend his girlfriend. Very valiant I had to admit I'd have done the same for Rinoa. I grinned at him.

"Irvine, you just don't know when you're beaten do you? Why don't you just be a good boy and die?" I said.

"You first." He retorted, and began to pull the trigger.

"Irvine, stop!" Came a voice from behind me. Shocked, I turned to see the last person I expected standing there. The same aloof, cold, uncaring person I'd left in Lunatic Pandora. He still wore his black clothes, his hair still stuck out at odd ends, and his gunblade was over his shoulder, gleaming in the sunlight. The scar stood out more than ever in the center of his forehead, going from over his left eye, to just under his right one. At long last, my rival was here.

"Squall, how nice of you to join us!" I said.

"Irvine, don't you dare kill him." Squall said to the man with the gun.


End file.
